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Over the holidays, I had the privilege of connecting with some gal pals I haven’t seen in awhile because of the pandemic. I hosted a gathering of several of them and we had a fabulous time talking about our lives’ journeys. Several of them had bought and sold homes, bought and sold jewelry, and made many changes to much of their asset base. Hearing them share their progress for themselves and their families made me ponder the larger issue of the purchasing power of women. Think about these statistics:
- Women make up more than half of the U.S. population, and control or influence 85% of consumer spending (Source: Forbes 2019)
- The purchasing power of women in the U.S. is in the trillions annually. (Source: Nielsen Consumer)
- Women control more than 60% of all personal wealth in the U.S. (Source: Federal Reserve, MassMutual Financial Group, BusinessWeek, Gallup)
- Women purchase over 50% of what has been labeled in the past as “male products,” including automobiles, home improvement products, and consumer electronics. (Source: Andrea Learned, “Don’t Think Pink”)
- Approximately 40% of U.S. working women now out-earn their husbands. (Source: U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics)
And when it comes to real estate, the National Association of Realtors® (NAR)’s Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, cites some key reasons a woman buys a home (versus a man purchasing a home) and that is, to be near friends and family, to provide quality of life for children under 18 years old, or to have “the right place” to be with adult children or grandparents. In fact, one in 5 homebuyers are single women – twice the percentage of single men.
I like to think that women are a compass for changing the world and many of my guy pals wholeheartedly agree. In the 60’s and 70’s, women did all the grocery shopping, prepared all meals, did all the errands and were the “taxi drivers” for the family. Now we have apps that perform all these tasks and more, and women have the discretionary income to pay for these conveniences. So if you want to know where a market is going, follow the women! Hat’s off to all of you, men and women, for a terrific 2022!
LMA Newsletter of 1-3-22
